Portland Rose Festival to return in late summer

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland may get to stop and smell the roses after all.

The organizers of the Portland Rose Festival said Friday they’re actively planning a 2020 festival for later this year. They said they’re looking at dates in August and September based on the current state of the coronavirus pandemic and guidelines set forth by Oregon leaders.

In the meantime, organizers have come up with ways to celebrate the famous festival virtually. Community members can register for the “Porch Parade” by choosing a theme and decorating their porch, lawn, sidewalk or windows. The Rose Festival will make a virtual map of the registered porches and the Rose Festival VIP Procession will visit the Porch Parade neighborhoods on May 23 and May 30.

The Grand Petite Parade will stream live on Facebook on June 6. The virtual parade will include “shoe box” floats from community members, a celebration of marching bands and other Rose Festival parade favorites. Participants are encouraged to use materials they already have to build their shoe box floats and submit photos to be included in the live stream.